Abumot concentrated on ivaan, quickly brushing off boms comment 'I am and I do not know what the legends say about me. The only way is if I had a regular supply of people willing to sacrifice themselves, if you can find that I assure you I would stop my current action'

"How can we possibly trust you? We don't even know if your really Abumot? He's been dead a long time. For all we know your a raving mad lunatic who thinks he's figured out immortality. Give us a reason to trust anything you say."

'I will show you' Abumot pointed back at ivaan 'you have yet to answer me' abumot had a strange and slow exhale, as it happened the groups skin shivered, the dust on the walls and stairs gently floated to the back of the room, and the unicorn freaked out, shaking its head and kicking the air for a couple of seconds, nearly hitting rias at it did so. After the unicorn clamped down abumot almost whispered across the room 'do not make me force the answer out of you.'

As Abumot began to release his magic, Claire held her hands forward; ready to open a portal at a moments notice in any direction required, though focused on the front. She wasn't about to take any chances.

"do not make me force the answer out of you." he said, his voice threatening in the extreme. Why do they always ignore diplomacy? "So you don't get an answer for a few minutes and you start to threaten people. And somehow we're supposed to believe you would be a responsible mage and give away the secret of immortality to all the people of the world? You're making it hard to believe you Abumot - if that;s who you really are." she said, her piercing gaze like steel.

"Oh, and incidentally; do not make us show you how much has changed since you last died. It will not be pretty." Perhaps he would back down... maybe... hopefully...

Bom finally realised how much peril they were all in. Bom had his doubts about whether this was the real Abumot, but whoever he was, he was dangerous. He gave Ivaan a pleading look. Tell him something, Ivaan.

He wondered if there was any plan to take this guy down. Bom doubted there would be all that much for him to dredge up out of the ground, and he figured that this "Abumot" would have his own counter measures anyway.

Karen felt a weird tingle, though was quickly distracted but the Unicorns outburst, one which Rias needed to avoid or take a hoof to the ribs. Karen felt, strangely 'rejuvenated', after the Unicorn calmed back down, like she hadn't used her transformation at all today, she didn't know why but since things seemed to be going south, she wasn't going to complain.

"do not make me force the answer out of you."

Rias sighed, then pulled the energy she needed to top back off from the torches in the room, but gave the mist a quizzical look as it surrounded her, there was more of it then usual, and it 'felt' different, 'lighter', even the preexisting orb felt 'lighter'. She paid little mind to Abumot's display of power, she was more concerned with her own powers, and going on a gut feeling, released the orb holding the bombs from her grasp. Instead of falling like a stone it floated down to about knee level and stayed there, this made her grin.

"Oh, and incidentally; do not make us show you how much has changed since you last died. It will not be pretty." she heard Claire comment 'No, it most certainly will not' Rias thought as she adjusted to the new feel of her power.

Ivaan met Abumonts gaze. He knew the diplomatic path was about to become a diplomatic tight rope, especially as Abumont started to interrogate him. Ivaan smile in a friendly manner and clasped his hands.He raised an eyebrow as he spoke in a well mannered fashion "You honestly think that approach is going to get you answers? My comrades have taught me that anger and fighting always come in second when you could just have a simple conversation. Put down the enormous power your raising, and maybe I'd be inclined to inform you of what we... Are capable of."

It was a bluff, of course, Ivaan was hoping that Abumont would see sense, but he knew that the man was deranged, he was pulling in energy from the man, slow enough that he wouldn't feel it until he tried to use his own power.

But this Yama was like a bottomless well of energy. It was like it was coming from somewhere else, and soon, Ivaan's personal reservoir of energy was full to bursting point, and the energy had to go somewhere.

But Ivaan couldn't transfer it to one of his colleagues. This energy was tainted by necromancy. It stank of giving life to the lifeless. He felt something tick over in his mind. A force, after being exposed to this kind of power, that had come into fruition.

But Ivaan knew he had to get rid of this power soon, of it would start affecting him negatively. He non-chalantly put his hands behind his back, and transferred it, uselessly, into the musty clay cavern floor behind him.

As he did this Ivaan bumped William, muttering an apology, he accidentally pictured what William could do with this kind of power. For a split second Ivaan vividly saw a giant being of ash in his minds eye, a golem, created through sheer will and power.

There came a muffled crack behind him and the ground parted, and a golem the size and (general) shape of William rose from it. It was like a potter had decided he wanted to create a sculpture, but gave up after the general silhouette was done. it had no face, no eyes, but instead were two holes in it's head, with a fire of true life energy burning behind them.

William heard a strange noise besides his ear, followed by Claire's voice "William....it could be someone who just thinks he's Abumot. I'm going to try and clear this up now." He nodded, that would explain a few things. Claire then stepped forward and said, "How can we possibly trust you?....Give us a reason to trust anything you say." He was curious about the necromancer's response. 'I will show you' Abumot pointed back at Ivaan 'you have yet to answer me' He felt the dust in the room move, it felt unnatural.

Ivaan responded to the necromancer by saying, "You honestly think that approach is going to get you answers?...Are capable of." William looked at Ivaan, it seemed he had learned something from them. He had to admit Ivaan was quite a nice guy, even if he was a non human. Ivaan then bumped into him, he felt strange. Suddenly the ground behind him cracked open, he turned around as fast as he could.

A golem made out of ash appeared. It looked like him, with a few exceptions. First it had no face, and two large holes where it's face should be. And it was obviously lacking any kind of color. "That's new." Ivaan commented. William grinned "You know what is also new? This!" Ash began to shoot from his body, mixing with the ash around William. It all fused with the golem, making it about three meters tall. William turned back to the necromancer. "You will answer our questions first, after that we will answer your questions." The golem walked behind William, and took a stance right behind him.

'Do not act like this is some sort of common question I ask if he lies in order to call me a monster or if he knows the secret to immortality for all. Instead of answering you all stall, whisper among yourselves and prepare for combat.' the rays of lights form the roofs started showing silhouettes on the ground and shadowy figure started gathering around the holes above them 'I will show you I am abumot, father of the dead.' The figures jumped down the hole, mostly humans, but all undead. They smashed like melons as they hid the ground, some nearly landing on members of the group. The only undead to survive the fall were three giant undead crabs, like the one the group encountered previously 'first you must learn carnimancy, the construction of the body and alteration of the brain' as he said this the flesh and bone of the smashed corpses started forming a bile of flesh, joined by the flesh of the undead that kept coming form the roof. The bile of flesh and bone then started taking shape, forming a hulking giant, its head nearly touched the roof, at least 9m in height. 'next a combination of animancy and fulgurmancy to stimulate the brain to a stage needed for it to sufficiently function' as he said this the hulking undead giants eyes opened and it looked around the room. Abumot then lifted his arm, grabbed the air and then violently swung his arm down, as he did the hulking undead giants body simply fell apart forming a pile of flesh again. This left just abumtot and three undead crabs 'What more proof do you want?'

"I dunno about you guys, but I'm pretty convinced!" Reetch said, backing away, bumping into Ivaan and Bom as he attempted to put as much distance between him and Abumont and his minions. It was bad enough attempting to fight just one of these wretched creatures, but facing at least three and a necromancer capable of making more reinforcements wasn't a welcoming prospect.

Standing in the middle, he opened his bag and dug his hands inside. Withdrawing them quickly, he was clutching a small handful of seeds in one hand and a couple of braided twigs in the other, he looked around his friends, nervously anticipating what was surely about to happen. Should the worst begin, he was at least somewhat ready.

"Who ever brought you back sure did a piss poor job bringing you up to date. You really think in the time between your passing and resurrection, nothing has changed? Nothing has happened to alter the power balance?"

Rias said after Abumot's display of necromantic mastery, deciding to try voicing the thoughts she relayed to Claire, to Abumot him self, it could make him mad, but it could settle things quicker. "Right now there is a war going on" walking over to the ledge by stairs and stepping off onto a platform she made which lowered her slowly to the chamber floor, the orb floating beside her and her blood red mist surrounding her like a fog "A war started by mages whom believe they, by virtue of 'having power', are the rightful rulers of the world, for no other reason then vanity near as I can tell. These mages going around, de-stabilizing they're country's to make them easier to take. We come to Abumot, and find what we believed to be the cause, you, however, things you have said over the course of our conversation has left me question where you belong on the 'threat' scale in terms of this war. Your hurting your own people, and thus, yes, your actions need to be addressed. But I'm not convinced your the real threat here." Rias said crossing her arms.

"After all, who would raise some one like you from the grave, and NOT introduce them selves, the country we're in carries your name, they're are legends surrounding you, and whom ever raised you didn't even bother to say hello? I know if I brought some one back to life in the manner you where, they would know exactly who did it. Another thing that sticks out, you not under standing the method used to raise you. While I'm willing to accept it's a new skill that didn't exist in your time, but after all the time you've had to study it, all you've discovered is it requires sacrifices? I'm willing to bet that, coupled with the other stand out, they don't want you to know. Now by this point you might be wondering why? Easy, It is my belief that how ever raised you from the grave is using you as a distraction, why else would they bring some one as high profile as you back and remain unknown to you"

Ivaan nodded. Now was the time for truth."We are... Skilled individuals. each of us are enchanted beings. I am capable of recognising and controlling life force. At first I mistook it for shaman animancy, but after I met these people, I realised that my power was different.I'm not able to bring back the dead, but I can tell... things about those that were. And I can tell what happened to you.Rias is right.It doesn't take a genius, or an enchanted being, to know you're being used. You're a puppet, Abumont, for forces that you may not have sided with otherwise. Perhaps now is not a good time to fight. I urge you to come with us and explain yourself to the locals. the situation may still be salvageable. I can't promise you safety, but I can promise you a chance at redemption."

Ivaan looked at the golem. it was... strange. Ivaan felt oddly connected to it. A golem...I live to serve, master.Ivaan quirked an eyebrow.If I wasn't certain that my powers were beyond Animancy before, I certainly am now.

Abumot clearly took a second to think about what rias and ivaan had said 'If what you say is true then I will haled my research for now, though I am sure my arrive to the villages will be met with nothing but steel and iron. I will but my research on hold for 6 full moons, but then I will continue my work for my redemption will lie in its completion' Then form the pile of flesh a replica of abumots body emerged and rolled down it 'Tell them of my death so they may focus on the true thread' Abumot then turned around and started walking towards a door behind the altar.

Ivaan Looked at Will, Wide eyed, and hurriedly whispered "Are we going to let him get away? We were supposed to end his madness, not delay it!" Ivaan glanced at Abumonts moving back "We may not get a chance like this again!"

"Tell them of my death so they may focus on the true threat" Abumot said as his body rolled toward them. Claire's lips pursed and her stare hardened. "I will not and cannot lie for you Abumot; there's only dishonor in such a vile and reprehensible action. You might leave here today - that is William's decision - but no matter what happens, I will not fake your death for you such that you might continue to operate in secret; unheeded." she said, barely holding back her annoyance. She wanted to do what he said - he would escape, she would finally have something damning on a horrible noble, and everyone would win." All she would need to do was be dishonorable.

Rias watch Abumot leave, a satisfied grin glued to her face, as she'd gotten what she wanted, more or less. "Not much of a secret if we know when he'll start back up, and six full moons is a long time, not to mention the rate we're going we'll like have the free time needed to come back and sort it out" she said as she turned toward Claire while her mist shot toward 'Abumots' body, first forming a blade in mid air that severed the head with enough force to lift it off the floor then forming a clawed hand again seemingly to free of the effects of gravity which grabbed the severed head and threw it to Rias before returning to a mist and back to it's 'orbit' around her as she turned catch the head."Assuming of course, we'll need to come back that is"

Karen stood up, stretched, and started for the entrance. "I'm gonna head back to where we left our stuff, while you all do what ever in town"

Abumot spoke, "Do not act like this is some sort of common....whisper among yourselves and prepare for combat." He then showed off his power, William looked disgusted. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm pretty convinced!" Reetch said stepping back. Rias and Ivaan then started explaining that he might only be a puppet, this seemed to shock Abumot. 'If what you say is true then I will haled my research for now....'Tell them of my death so they may focus on the true thread,' he said as he began walking away.

William hesitated, could they beat him? "Are we going to let him get away?...We may not get a chance like this again!" He had to agree with Ivaan, they had to end this madness. Even if it meant fighting someone as mighty as Abumot. Claire then spoke, "I will not and cannot lie for you Abumot; there's only dishonor in such a vile and reprehensible action....I will not fake your death for you such that you might continue to operate in secret; unheeded." William looked at Claire, he wouldn't force her to be dishonorable. It seemed there was only one path left, William lifted his hand.

Rias thens spoke again, "Not much of a secret if we know when he'll start back up....not to mention the rate we're going we'll like have the free time needed to come back and sort it out" Rias' mist then beheaded the clone of the necromancer, then formed into a claw and threw the head. William focused, he had to destroy the necromancer. The ash golem charged at Abumot, his right hand changed into a spear. The ash golem jumped, and attempted to skewer Abumot.

The fake body of abumot, including head, quickly merged back with the pile of flesh, out of which a tentacle sprung out, grabbing the ash golem and then throwing it straight back at william. Abumot turned around and uttered a single word 'mistake' dozens of featureless flesh manikin with bone weapons and armour started coming out of the pile of flesh, and charged towards the group.

"Ahhh nuts.....why must bad things keep happening to us...?" Reetch moaned as the Manikins rose up and advanced on them.

"A little boost if you could, please," he asked Ivaan...

Gripping the little bundle of twigs in his hand, Reetch flowed his powers through into them. The wood began to warp and bend, like living creatures, before growing and growing. In a few moment, the twigs had extended, wrapped and braided around each other to form a strong staff, as tall as Reetch himself.

Rias had a hard time finding words for a few moments, a mix of disbelief to the key of 'He's not really that stupid is he' and anger to the key of 'OH FOR FUCK SAKE, HE IS THAT STUPID', and for long enough for some one to notice, Rias actually did nothing.

Karen, having heard something, turned around and sighed when she saw the zombies charging "Just couldn't let Rias do things her way could you..." she aid with a mix of annoyance and indifference as she passed Ivaan, jumped of the ledge transformed and landed a little bit in front of Rias, her arm blades, ankle blades and most f her back spikes glowing with a menacing dark purple glow.

Why are we fighting him?! Bom thought angrily, as the group found themselves surrounded by fleshy horrors. Six days might have been long enough to formulate a real plan for stopping him, but now it looked like they wouldn't last six minutes.

Once again Bom had nothing close to hand. Lacking other options, he focussed his power and tried to dredge whatever he could out of the stony ground. He had a moment to wonder who or what might have died in this dungeon - what might have been sacrificed to create Abumot. The thought gave him a shiver.

Ivaan, watching events unfold like a train wreck, cringed when the ash golem was thrown at will. he instantly dismantled the golem, reducing it to a cloud of ash that couldn't possibly hurt will, before turning to him and quickly saying "It takes too much energy to make the golem from scratch, maybe if you make the golem compacted into a form before I try and raise it It'll be easier?"

"A little boost if you could, please,"

Ivaan faltered, "I'm not sure I could. The boost takes a considerable amount of energy, and making a golem is going to sap most of what I have..."Ivaan paused,"But not if you made some plants grow their roots down through the ceiling, then I could use them like conduits and take energy from the forest above."

Claire wasted no time drawing her blade. Holding up her still empty hand, she tore open a portal she could use to stab Abumot through. To her great surprise however, the portal was significantly larger then she had previously managed to make.

Wasting no more time thinking about it, she pushed the sword through the hole, attacking through the hole in a multitude of directions, flourishes, and strikes; hoping to land a hit on their necromantic enemy.

"But not if you made some plants grow their roots down through the ceiling."

Reetch looked to the ceiling, a dark roof of craggy uneven stone. They had traveled pretty deep into this tomb, he wasn't sure exactly how far away he was from the nearest of the trees, he might be able to grow at least one substantially, though it may take some doing.

Reetch took a deep breath, and with surprising speed and agility he hadn't yet shown he ran and pounced into the air. Using his staff like a pole-volt he planted it on the head of an approaching zombie creature, using this boost he flew higher, landing with a unusually quiet clunk against the tomb wall. Fingers splayed out, he crawled up the wall like a bizarre spider, with years of mountain climbing experience making this pretty simple for him.

Coming to a stop on the ceiling, he clutched against the rocks while chaos happened below. Reetch began feeling for the nearest plantlife to him, feeling through the stone and earth, detecting the nearest roots to his location.

With clairs first strike through a portal abumot used her sword to conduct a lightning blast through to her. With surprising energy abumot sprinted towards the pile of flesh while making it move towards him using it to create a barrier around him.

The head that reetch smashed using as a platform almost instantly rebuild itself, while is to break these manikins were also easy to fix. As reetch cause tree roots to break through the cielign it looked like they weren't the only things coming out, the skeletons of swamp wolfs and vermin fell to the ground and rebuild themselves. They attacked any manikin getting close to bom.

The fake body off Abumot merged into the pile of flesh, a tentacle sprung out and threw the ash golem at him. William cursed as he prepared for the impact, Ivaan however seemed to take back his power. The ash golem shattered and the ash was blown into the air again, William sighed relived. Flesh puppets seemed to rise from the flesh piles, William was happy he was fully armed right now. "Just couldn't let Rias do things her way could you..." Karen said as she seemed to walk back, William turned back to the zombies. Rias thing involved letting him live, he couldn't allow that.

Ivaan then said "It takes too much energy to make the golem from scratch, maybe if you make the golem compacted into a form before I try and raise it It'll be easier?" He nodded, and focused. Ash began to pour from his body, and the surrounding ash began to gather around him. Suddenly they began to form 2 beings. And within a few second two, three meter tall beings made out of ash appeared. They were very muscled and seemed to wear leather armor, they were both holding a large axe.

"I have made the golems, now you bring them to live Ivaan." Meanwhile a puppet had walked up to William. He blocked its attack with the shield, he then pushed its arm back. He used the opportunity to chop the things head clean off. He was very happy he had bought the tooth sword now, it never seemed to let him down.

As her first strike passed through the portal, a blast of electricity burst forth in retaliation as if to mock her. It passed through her sword, and up her arm. She cringed in pain and she let go of the sword involuntarily. The portal closed around it - her concentration broken; slicing though the blade as though it were warm butter.

Glancing down at her arm, she could already see and feel that everything from her elbow down was burned red. of more concern was her breathing. For but a few seconds, her ability to breath had left her, creating an almost overwhelming sense of fear. Fortuitously, she found her breath, which she used to pull in huge gulps of air through her nose and mouth. The scent of cooked pork entered her nose at this time, a scent she desperately tried to not notice.

As she stared around, it became apparent that she had fallen to the ground; though no memory of the fall returned to her. She could see Reetch hanging from the cave, trying to pull roots into the tomb. She could see William and Ivaan working together to form some kind of artificial, ash creature. Karen, Rias, and Mr. Bom were out of her sight, but she could hear some of them through the electric daze. Abumot, she could see, was making his way for a pile of flesh; that could not be allowed

Vowing not to do that again, she pulled out her crossbow and loaded it; fighting through the pain of the burns on adrenaline more then anything else. Then she waited. She held it in a position from which she could fire, watching Abumot as he moved closer to the flesh pile. The moment he stopped moving, she would open a portal behind his head and put a bolt in it.

The thick fur of Ivaan's back bristled as his form rose his arms to the ceiling, as if thanking a deity for the power he was about to receive.But it wasn't a deity but Reetch he was growling a thanks to, as he felt the roots open up a path to the cacophony of life above.

He opened up all channels and began charging. But something was different. His inner reservoir felt larger. and as he filled it, expanding his search in the forest above to find more energy he could take without killing anything, he realised that he had enough to make the golems and boost the party.

Two holes punched into the each of the golem's faces by an invisible force, and the flames of life sprang alight in their depths. the jet black colossi tensed up, picked targets, and began cleaving their was through the undead masses.

out of the corner of his eye he saw Claire stumble. Looking towards her, he saw her arm was burnt."Shoot. the boost's going to have to wait." he called up to to Reetch apologetically, before turning to will and saying; "Will, Claire's down, Should I go and help her or are you going? I can't use golems and be medic at the same time!"

William smashed the skull of one of the flesh puppets which tried to attack him. He then saw the two golems in movement, they were busy destroying the puppets. He then heard Ivaan calling out his name; he turned around and looked at him. "Will, Claire's down, Should I go and help her or are you going? I can't use golems and be medic at the same time!" William looked at Claire, she was obviously injured. It was his fault; because of him she was injured. His heart skipped a few beats, fear, concern and self loathing began to spin within him.

He looked at Ivaan, and then he realized he was wasting time. "Go heal her right now Ivaan! I will cover you!" The 2 golems moved towards Claire, hacking through the puppets. William looked at Abumot, he then made a spear of ash in his hand. The spear wasn't very sharp, but it would have to do. He stepped forward and threw the spear at Abumot, aiming to hit and then restrain him.

Karen leapt into the hoard of undead, blades first and began to go on a rampage through the undead line, bits of undead flying all over as Karen discovered the glow to her blades rendered the armor they where wearing moot.

Rias on the other hand was trying to decide what to do, would be simple to just 'get in on the action' but she didn't want to, she'd gone out of her way to avoid a battle, not that what her plans seemed to matter anymore, William had quite clearly called them worthless by his actions, so for now she just covered Karen, not that she need to, but it made her look like she was helping, the fact she still had Fromanzio's bombs wasn't lost on her ether, but no one seemed to notice and since her idea's didn't carry any weight anymore so she stayed silent about them.

No matter how the manikins were destroyed they just kept getting rebuild, but clair had one moment for a clear shot and she took it, the crossbow bolt went straight into the back of abumots head, followed a split second later by williams spear going through his chest. Abumot fell to his knees and then. Got back up. Abumot looked as surprised as anyone, but these lethal wounds did nothing but stun him for a moment. His manikins were soon joined in their assault by the three undead giant crabs. Two heading for bom and one heading for clair and ivaan.

Clinging on to the gnarled roots now protruding from the ceiling, Reetch watched the battle from his vantage point. It seemed like a waste of energy to keep trying to kill these 'manikins' when they clearly shrug off everyone's attacks. Their only real goal was to either kill, or at the very least subdue, Abumont, which perhaps might stop these ghoulish creatures. However, now that the crabs were added to the mix things looked even more complicated then before, seeing them close in around his friends he felt he should try to assist as best he could.

While bringing the roots further down from the roof, Reetch drew his arm back and scattered the hand-full of seeds he held at the ground between Bom and the two crabs heading in his direction. Gesturing with his hands, he had the seeds burst into bloom and grow at an alarming rate, they secured themselves onto the floor of the tomb and spread upwards in long, twisting weed like tendrils. As the crabs walked over the rapidly growing plants he manipulated them into ensnaring the creatures, to coil around their legs, claws and bodies, to lash them down and to keep them subdued.

Even if these don't hold for long, he thought, it will at least buy us a little time.

Bom felt a moment of panic when nothing came up out of the ground. But just then, as the ceiling cracked open with thick roots, hordes of undead creatures tumbled down and began to fight the mannequins. He was pleased with the reinforcements, and he quickly joined the fray.

He grabbed at the mannequins and tore into their flesh with teeth and strong hands. Each time he managed a fatal blow, they simply reformed and continued to fight. Frustrated, he resorted to picking them up and throwing them away, if only to control the crowd from swamping the rest of the group. He spotted a couple of undead crabs coming his way. As he sized them up, he felt a strange sensation. Looking over, he saw a crossbow bolt pass through the air. At only a glance, he knew exactly where the bolt was going to hit Abumot. What confused him was that he knew this before the bolt had even entered one of Claire's portals. If only he had time to think on it more, but the brawl called his attention.

A crop of plants sprang out of the ground between Bom and the crabs. He looked up and realised it was the work of little Reetch. He picked up a pieces of masonry that had fallen from the ceiling, and pelted them at the crabs. As he did so, he felt the strange sensation again. He knew exactly whether he would hit the crabs, the instant he was releasing the stones. With the benefit of this strange new aptitude, he could easily correct his aim with each throw, until he was getting plenty of hits on the crab's eyes and legs.

Ivaan nodded, before thumping across the tomb, bowling the occasional undead away like pins on a bowling alley as he wrapped his hands and claws in bandages to prevent his fur getting in Claire's wound. He got to Claire and willed energy to seep into her, if only to keep her alert and awake while he worked on her. behind Ivaan, the golems slowed, the fire in their eyes dying as Ivaan stopped focusing on them.He grabbed his pack of healing supplies from the side of his bag and (staying out of her crossbow's way) he motioned for her to be still, "what happened? actually, never mind. Is it just the arm that's burnt?" he asked as he poured some water over the burn for some temporary relief and cooling.Ivaan assessed the wound for a moment, before opening his pack and taking out some rubbing alcohol "You're going to have to hold the crossbow one handed. This might sting. Grit your teeth." Ivaan muttered as he rubbed the arm in the antiseptic fluid. the reddening worsened, and the wound would sting like deep hell for a few seconds, but at least the wound would be clean. He then cleaned off the alcohol with cotton pads and opened a package of aloe salve, smearing the burn with the light green salve, covering the burnt area and wrapping it in bandages. "There. Don't let the wrappings come off. The skin will slough right off if you remove the wrappings whilst it's healing." Ivaan said."Any other problems?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder at Will, wanting to get back in the fight.

A "Manikin" Lumbered towards Ivaan as he worked. Unfortunately he didn't notice it until it was right behind him.When Ivaan noticed the creature's shadow cast over the wound he was working on, it was too late.An inarticulate cry came from the thing's lips as it raised it's huge, rusted mace-

Rias caught Manikin Karen apparently missed as it was about to attack Ivaan, and sent several blades to deal with it, striking it in the arm with the mace first, then lopping its head off, then cutting the head in chunks, cutting the torso into chunks, brutalizing this and the other manikins in an attempt to vent her frustrations....

Karen broke off from the Manikins to deal with a crab, if only by flipping it on to its back, before going back to holding the line of Manikins

Claire winced as Ivaan applied the antiseptic to her arm. It hurt like hell, but she resisted screaming. She grit her teeth as Ivaan suggested, though so hard she feared she would lack teeth after all was said and done. Ivaan then applied some strange green goo to her arm, followed by a wrapping. "There. Don't let the wrappings come off. The skin will slough right off if you remove the wrappings whilst it's healing." She nodded her head in agreement, then finished loading her crossbow once more.

She wasn't sure how much use it would be, but a loaded crossbow was infinity more effective then an unloaded one so she did it anyway. "Any other problems?" Ivaan asked, drawing her attention, just in time to see the Manikin raise its rusted mace. She raised her crossbow, hoping to shoot the mace out of its hand...

Then Rias tore it apart, turning it into little more then chum. Thank the gods for enhanced powers. Also, for the first time, Claire felt Rias was more frightening then Karen. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she didn't get the feeling it was something good.

"Nothing else at the moment; thanks for the help." she said once the danger had been delayed. Using her crossbow as a brace, she lifted herself to her feet and took stock of the situation. She couldn't hurt the manikin or Abumot - they could just heal indefinitely. Karen and Rias seemed to be doing a good job keeping the masses off the group; with William and Ivaan's golem being a force to be reckoned with by its own right. Mr. Bom seemed to be lost in this thoughts; another non-good sight, and Reetch was pulling aid from above. It was in this surveying that she came up with the only strategy she could hope would work; destroying the alter and its arcane runes.

Resolving herself, Claire nodded to Ivaan, saying "I'll be alright; go back to helping William; he needs it more then I" then opened a portal to the far side of the room where the alter jut from the earth and stepped through.